Morinehtar wrote:
I think Amazon UK still has some copies, if you want to try there.

It looks like Amazon are running out of copies of the facsimile Hobbit, as the price has gone back to RRP (£25) for amazon.co.uk.

Trotter wrote:

Morinehtar wrote:
I think Amazon UK still has some copies, if you want to try there.

It looks like Amazon are running out of copies of the facsimile Hobbit, as the price has gone back to RRP (£25) for amazon.co.uk.

It has fluctuated back up to RRP a couple of times, so not clear if anything can be inferred from the pricing. Seems possible they are running out now, though.

We are nearing the Canadian release date, so, presumably there will be a more available soon. Who wants to pay Canadian prices, though?

Trotter wrote:

It looks like Amazon are running out of copies of the facsimile Hobbit, as the price has gone back to RRP (£25) for amazon.co.uk.

I might be stating the obvious but lately we have been getting used to the selling figures of S&G, FoA, and Kullervo; however, The Hobbit is one of the best-loved books of all time and a slipcased high-quality 1st Edition Facsimile has much better selling potential than obscure non-Middle-earth works.

That being said, I know at least 10 people outside Tolkien collector/enthusiast/scholar circles that ended up buying it after the good rep it got on social media and they all love it. By what I can tell, the pictures and comments they posted have motivated others to buy as well.

PD: The moral of the story is that same people that worked on this book should have worked on making an actual Deluxe Kullervo (sorry, I could't resist! I'm still sour about my upside-down bound copy).

You are correct. There is also a big difference between a book selling for £17 and one selling for £40.

The Hobbit certainly has wider appeal, and - above all other considerations - Tolkien designed a very attractive jacket, so, even today, it just looks good. And the FF jacket looks better than anything produced since 1975.

Morinehtar wrote:
PD: The moral of the story is that same people that worked on this book should have worked on making an actual Deluxe Kullervo (sorry, I could't resist! I'm still sour about my upside-down bound copy).

I suspect it was the same people on the HarperCollins end. The difference is in the company that did the printing and binding.

I got my copy of the Lay of Aotrou and Itroun today, not a bad book, but did find it strange that the book has five plates, and two are the same, a colour version and a black and white version of the same manuscript page.

Well my Deluxe Kullervo arrived into the US today with a spot of glue on the top of the pages, in addition to other generally poor finishing details (lettering on spine very much off center, marks on the boards). Anyone know how well Book Depository handles refunds?

I should also note that the Facsimile Hobbit I ordered from a third party Amazon seller on October 19th arrived already. However, the order I placed directly with Amazon USA on August 24th has yet to update. I am not expecting this second (first) copy to ever be delivered.

I've had a couple good experiences with Book Depository in regards to refunds. You should be fine. Just let them know what happened and most likely they'll offer you a refund and allow you to keep the book.

Tapuvae (Chris) wrote:
Well my Deluxe Kullervo arrived into the US today with a spot of glue on the top of the pages, in addition to other generally poor finishing details (lettering on spine very much off center, marks on the boards). Anyone know how well Book Depository handles refunds?

I should also note that the Facsimile Hobbit I ordered from a third party Amazon seller on October 19th arrived already. However, the order I placed directly with Amazon USA on August 24th has yet to update. I am not expecting this second (first) copy to ever be delivered.

If the book is defective, BD are pretty good. Their default position is to send a replacement, so just make sure you ask for a refund up front when you contact them.

If you could post up images, that would good. I'm going to email HarperCollins about this title next week, and I'd like to include images of various faults on various bad copies, so I can illustrate just how poor the construction and QC is on these.

pic 1